David Ornstein reveals what former Arsenal CEO Vinai Venkatesham did before accepting the Tottenham job

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Arsenal’s former Chief Executive Vinai Venkatesham has joined Tottenham Hotspur as the club’s new CEO.

Venkatesham departed Arsenal at the end of last season after more than a decade at the North London club in various different roles.

The football administrator oversaw the Gunners’ fall from grace towards the end of the 2010s, as well as contributing to Mikel Arteta’s revolution in the 2020s.

In a shock move, he’s now been appointed CEO of Arsenal’s bitter rivals Tottenham, where he’ll work closely with Spurs’ executive chairman Daniel Levy.

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Vinai Venkatesham rejected other offers to join Tottenham

Venkatesham spent a long time as Arsenal’s chief commercial officer, guiding the club to new-found commercial success throughout his period in the role.

He was eventually promoted to managing director, and then chief executive, replacing Ivan Gazidis in this role.

Leaving the Emirates hierarchy at the end of the season, he’s made the surprising choice to switch allegiance to Tottenham.

According to David Ornstein of the Athletic, the 44-year-old didn’t depart Arsenal for another job immediately and actually rejected several offers from elsewhere before accepting the role at Spurs.

He had proposals from other Premier League clubs, as well as offers in the United States, Saudi Arabia and in private equity, before joining Arsenal’s North London rivals.

Vinai Venkatesham was a good servant to Arsenal

While fans might be frustrated that a former member of the Arsenal hierarchy has decided to join Tottenham, Venkatesham was ultimately a good servant to the club in his time in N5.

While his tenure coincided with the team’s downfall in the latter half of the 2010s, he was also a big proponent of Arteta and made major contributions to helping the Gunners ascend back to the top of football.

It’s difficult to measure or judge a chief executive from the outside without having full information or a true understanding of what their remit is, but Venkatesham seemed to be a well-respected and highly-thought of individual at Arsenal.

The reports indicate that Tottenham believe acquiring Venkatesham is a coup, which tells you that he’s certainly a competent figure in the world of football administration.